15-Year-Old Boy Found Dead Near River in Lapai Low Cost Area

A 15-year-old boy, identified as Justice Adeola, has been found dead near a river in the State Low Cost area of Lapai, Niger State, after he was reported missing by his family.

Justice’s father, Prof. Dennis Adeola, a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, said the teenager was last seen at home after having a meal with the family at about 2:30 p.m. before his disappearance.

According to Prof. Adeola, Justice told his mother that he was going to see a shoemaker, but the family later discovered that he did not get to the reported destination.

The professor said concern grew later in the day following an incident at the family’s residence involving a POS operator who was found with Justice’s mobile phone.

Prof. Adeola said the POS operator claimed to have transferred ₦200,000 for Justice, a transaction he said raised questions because of his son’s age and the circumstances surrounding the alleged transfer.

He said he declined to draw any conclusion at the time, insisting that he first needed to find his son and understand what had happened.

Prof. Adeola said the school’s security unit was informed after Justice went missing, and a search was conducted around the area from approximately 5:00–6:00 p.m. until about 1:00 a.m., without success.

The search continued into the following morning. Prof. Adeola said he was preparing to notify his deputy at the university that he would be unable to attend to his duties when he received information that a corpse had been discovered near a river.

He said he went to the location in the State Low Cost area of Lapai, where he identified the body as that of his son, Justice.

The professor also said Justice had acquired the mobile phone less than a month earlier and that the device had battery-related problems. He described his son as someone who did not frequently go out.

Prof. Adeola acknowledged that he had previously sent Justice to withdraw relatively small amounts of money, usually between ₦10,000 and ₦15,000, using a POS operator he normally patronised around Hundunsa Junction. He said he was unaware of how the reported ₦200,000 transaction involving his son came about.

The circumstances surrounding the teenager’s movements, the reported financial transaction and his death remain unclear based on the account available to Lapai TV.